The Reflection
by mysteryHuntress
Summary: This Story takes place after KOTW. Valkyries reflection wants to kill her. Are Valkyrie and Skulduggery able to discover its plan in time? Valduggery ahead. The rating is T, just in case, I don't know how the story develops.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This little story is set after KOTW. I'm from Germany (so sorry for my bad English) and reading this series in German so I don't know what happens in LSODM yet. Please don't tell me. **

**Valduggery and maybe (and just maybe) Vilkyrie ahead. I don't know how this story develops. I think I'm going to write a second chapter but I'm not sure if I should write more. Depends on how many people read this and want me to continue. This is my first fanfic so please Read & Review :)**

**Every horizontal line shows that the POV is changed. It starts with Skulduggery's.**

**I do not own any of those characters and anything you recognize from the books.**

* * *

Chapter one

Skulduggery sat in his favorite armchair he used for meditation. Today, however, he was not meditating but thinking about what happened in the last few days. There was plenty of time for this because since he and Valkyrie – or should he say Vile and Darquesse? – stopped Argeddion there hadn't been anything for them to work on. That probably meant something bad was about to happen. It felt like the calm before the storm.

He knew Sanctuaries from all over the world were preparing for war now. Since Strom, the grand mage of the Supreme Council, was killed while he was in Dublin, they hadn't heard anything from the Supreme Council anymore.

Skulduggery didn't want a war. Yes, he was happy to go after bad guys, but war was something completely different. The last war he had been Lord Vile for several years and he didn't want that to happen again.

Speaking of Vile. When Vile and Darquesse fought the last time, Vile didn't even thought about killing Darquesse. He was too fascinated by her power and beauty. If Skulduggery hadn't known it better, he would have said Vile felt attracted to her. But that was preposterous. After all, _he _was Vile. Just with more self-control and less rage. And Darquesse _was_ Valkyrie, though Darquesse had no conscience and was therefore a very brutal killer. So Vile feeling attracted to Darquesse would mean he thought the same way about Valkyrie and that was ridiculous. Yes, he liked Valkyrie. He really liked her. But he couldn't be in love with her, could he?

* * *

Valkyrie climbed through her window and was surprised to find her room empty. She wondered where the reflection could be when she heard a door open. Footsteps on the stairs. The door opened and her reflection entered.

"Hi", it said.

"Hi", Valkyrie responded. She gestured towards the mirror. "I want to resume my life." Since there was no case to work on she could spend the rest of the day with her family.

The reflection hesitated. Weird. After a moment it tried a smile, said "Sure" and stepped into the mirror. Valkyrie touched the glass and the memories of several days came to her mind. Just everyday stuff. Going to school. Making homework. Feeding Alison. Then the memory went black for a moment. Before she could wonder what happened the memory got clear again and she saw herself standing in her room, telling the reflection to step into the mirror.

Something didn't fit and she looked through the memories again, this time more attentive. Now she realized what was wrong. There was a huge time gap between feeding Alison this morning and seeing herself waiting in the bedroom. Where had the reflection been all day? Why was there a lack of memories? If it had been sleeping, Valkyrie would remember going to bed but there was no such memory. It couldn't hide things on purpose, could it? And if it was able to hide thing, what did the reflection hide from her? Valkyrie hadn't got a clue but she knew it must be something bad. The thought made her shiver.

She grabbed her phone and called Skulduggery.

* * *

The ringtone of his mobile interrupted his train of thoughts. A quick glance on the screen told him it was Valkyrie.

"Already missing my company?" he teased.

Her tone was worried when she responded. "It's my reflection, Skulduggery. I can't remember what it did for _hours_."

"Well, you use the reflection very often. Perhaps that's just another malfunction."

"I don't think it's that simple. That happened only once before. When it was tortured and didn't want me to go through this. I remembered this just now. I think it kept those memories deliberately, too. I only wonder _why._"

"You could simply ask your reflection."

"No, absolutely not", she said and her voice sounded scared. Weird. It was just a reflection, nothing to be scared of.

* * *

"Why not?", he asked with his velvety voice.

"I'm afraid of it. It has own thoughts and makes own decisions. What if it decides it doesn't want to help me anymore when I confront it? Oh my god", she whispered as realization hit her. When she couldn't use the reflection anymore she had to tell her parents everything. Or run away and break their hearts or she uses the reflections and comes home to find out it is gone or told her parents about magic or-

* * *

"Valkyrie?", he asked concerned when she remained silent for too long. She didn't answer. The reflection couldn't have hurt her, could it? Then he heard her sniffle.

"Valkyrie, are you crying?" Now he was angry, she wasn't the kind of person who cried a lot. Something bad must have happened.

"Wh-What will my parents say when say find out?" she said with a shaky voice. "They will probably hate me, because I lied to them for such a long time. I don't want them to find out. I like it the way it is now!"

With the phone in one hand he grabbed his hat from the table and his keys, rushing towards the Bentley. Perhaps he wasn't sure about his feelings for Valkyrie but he knew that he cared for her and didn't want her to be hurt. She was his friend and right now she needed him.

"It's okay, Valkyrie", he tried to soothe her. "I'll be there in a few minutes. We'll figure something out."

"Okay" she said and Skulduggery could hear a weak smile from her voice.

He parked the Bentley a few meters down the street and flew the rest of the way and up to her window.

* * *

**Yes, I know it started kinda lame but I hope the next chapter is better :)**

**Don't forget to Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: T****hank you for the lovely reviews! It's nice to know there is someone reading this ;)**

**Here's the next chapter. I think I'm doing at least one more, maybe two, depends on how many ideas I've got.**

**Once again, s****orry for my bad English . **

**I do not own any of those characters and anything you recognize from the books.**

* * *

Chapter two

_Valkyrie's POV._

When she heard the knock on her window ten minutes later, Valkyrie was surprised. In a positive way surprised, that is. She hadn't expected him to come over right away. _He is a really good friend, I'm glad to have someone like him_, she thought. Although she wished there would be more. But she couldn't hope that he returned her feelings for him. A dashing handsome man/skeleton like him wouldn't fall in love with a 17 yet nearly 18 year old girl. But she trusted him and could rely on him if she needed help and that was all that mattered right now.

She rose from her bed, wiped away the tears which had been strolling down her face and walked over to opened the window for him. As soon as he stood in her room he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close to his chest. He whispered soothing words to comfort her and when she finally stopped crying they sat on her bed while Valkyrie explained what happened.

After she finished Skulduggery said: "I know that you're afraid but I think we should talk to your reflection. Just this time. If your suspicion is entitled and the reflection planning something bad we can just force it back into the mirror and you don't have to call it again."

That sounded reasonable to Valkyrie but how should she manage both, her magical and her non-magical life, without relying on the reflection?

As if he was able to read her thoughts he added: "I don't want to scare you even more but if you don't talk to it right now it can become dangerous. You don't know what it has done today or will be doing the next time you need it."

He was right and she knew it. She couldn't let this malfunctioned reflection be alone with her little sister anymore. She took a deep breath.

* * *

"Okay" she said then and walked over to touch the mirror.

A moment later it stepped out of it with an anxious expression on its face.

_Ah, right. It knows everything Valkyrie knows so it is aware of the fact why we are here_, Skulduggery remembered. _If I was the reflection, I would be anxious, too._

"Where have you been today?" Valkyrie started the interrogation. Skulduggery was relieved. There she was again, the Valkyrie Cain he knew so well. The crying Valkyrie made him uncomfortable, he didn't know how to handle those situations well. Thanks god she wasn't the kind of girl that cried very often.

The reflection glanced towards the door. It seemed to consider if it could reach the door before one of the others catched it. As if she had read its thoughts Valkyrie made a step forwards, cutting its escape plan off. Skulduggery, too, made a step forwards, positioning himself between the reflection and the window.

There was no chance left for the reflection to escape and it has realized its hopeless situation. It sighed.

"I've spend the day with Carol. You can call her, I'm not lying."

"Then why don't you just show me the memories?", Valkyrie asked suspicious.

_Very good question indeed_, Skulduggery thought.

"I want to have some privacy, okay?", it responded.

"You are me. Why would you want to have secrets from me? You shouldn't be thinking your own thoughts anyway." Valkyrie got angry.

Then Skulduggery had an idea. They had to catch its unawareness. He had the theory that if the reflection was thinking about what happened today, Valkyrie would remember these thoughts when she touched the mirror. They just had to prevent that the reflection could concentrate on hiding these memories, too.

* * *

_The reflections POV (ha ha, that sounds weird :D )_

The reflection knew something bad was about to happen when Skulduggery shot Valkyrie a questioning look. Well, of course you couldn't tell from his facial expressions what he was up to because he had none, but Valkyrie was able to read his expressions by the way he tilted his head. And, of course, the reflection knew how to read those movements, too.

Valkyrie nodded and they both jumped forwards, Skulduggery pushing the reflection to the mirror and Valkyrie preventing any attempts to escape. The reflection closed its eyes and tried to hide todays memories, but Skulduggery was way too fast. The reflection tried its best to hide most of the memories, but it wasn't sure if Valkyrie remembered enough to draw the right conclusions when she placed her fingers on the cold glass.

_General POV_

"Did it work?" Skulduggery asked curious.

"The memory is blurred", Valkyrie explained, pressing her hand against her forehead. "I can't really _see_ what it had in mind. But there is this feeling. It…" Valkyrie turned around to Skulduggery, a shocked expression on her face, her back now to the mirror.

Skulduggery stepped forwards, laying his gloved hands on her shoulders. "Valkyrie, what is it?" he asked concerned.

She looked up into his eye sockets. "It wanted to kill me, Skulduggery!"

He laid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "It's okay. It is back in the mirror and can't harm you anymore", he tried to soothe her.

Neither of them had noticed that the reflection hadn't moved yet. It smiled devilishly before it was replaced by the actual reflection.

"I know but- what am I going to do know, without the reflection?"

"I don't know yet. Are your parents at home?" She shook her head. "Then let's go to the kitchen. I think a cup of tea is what you need right know and then we'll figure things out."

"Okay", she nodded.

When the door closed behind them, the reflection appeared again and stepped out of the mirror. It went to the door, heard noises from the kitchen and made its way through the still open window.

Neither Skulduggery nor Valkyrie noticed the dark-haired girl scurrying past the windows of the living room.

The reflection was glad that it still had a chance.

No one suspected a thing.

* * *

**Not much Valduggery so far but I needed a story first, a case, whatever. I think in the next chapter there will be some :) **

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **

**Once again, sorry for my bad English. Oh, and for any mistakes, too. **

**Well, here's the next chapter. It's a bit longer than the previous ones. Anyway, hope you like it!**

**I do not own any of those characters and anything you recognize from the books.**

Chapter three

_Valkyrie's POV_

Valkyrie sat at the kitchen table, holding a cup of tea in her hands and trying to find a solution for her problem. How should she manage both of her lives, the magical and non-magical one? She couldn't just turn her back to one of them. One the one hand she didn't want to leave her family because she didn't want to hurt them. She was always happy to spend time with her family, although this time had been very rare in the last few years. On the other hand she couldn't leave her magical life behind. The adventures of a detective's life were all she ever wanted. She had great friends like Ghastly, Ravel and Vex and of course Skulduggery, her mentor and partner and the man she had unfortunately fallen in love with.

Skulduggery sat on the opposite of the table, waving a gloved hand in front of her face.

"Valkyrie!" he exclaimed, cutting off her train of thoughts. "Are you even listening?" He sounded annoyed.

"Sorry. What did you say?"

"You know I don't like to repeat things." Great. Now he was _really _annoyed.

"Please?" She looked at him pleadingly.

* * *

He sighed. He couldn't blame her. Probably he would be distracted, too.

"I was suggesting that you could move to Gordon's mansion. It becomes yours when you turn 18 and your birthday is – " he tilted his head pondering. "In four days." he finished the sentence. Sometimes he was surprised by his own brilliant ideas.

She obviously wasn't convinced yet so he elaborated. "You can still visit your parents and you don't have to tell them everything, although that would make things easier."

She glared at him.

"Hey, I only said it _would_ make things easier if you tell them."

"I won't. But I think moving to Uncle Gordon's might be a good idea." She smiled slightly. Her smile grew wider as if she had just found the solution for a very difficult case.

Skulduggery tilted his head questioningly.

"I just realized that there are only three days school left. Since the last exams are already done I think I can manage going to school these last few days. " She was interrupted by her phone buzzing.

"Hey Ghastly, what's up? ... Yes, sure. … Okay, see you tomorrow."

"That was Ghastly", she informed Skulduggery. _Oh, really? _He thought sarcastically. _I already figured this out from the part of the conversation I witnessed._ But he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he nodded, wanting her to go on.

"He just finished my new clothes. I shall pick them up tomorrow. I guess I'm going there after school, I just have to think of some excuse for my parents for why I'm late." She went silent. Skulduggery knew she didn't like to lie to her parents.

"I could pick you up after school and stop at Ghastly's. We can pick your clothes and you would be back home just in time", he offered.

"Really? Thank you, Skulduggery!" she exclaimed happily, rose from the chair and hugged him tightly.

Skulduggery was stunned for a moment, then he wrapped his skeletal arms around her and hugged her back.

* * *

_At the same time underneath the kitchen window._

The reflection had eavesdropped on their conversation. Now, as they were both that oblivious, it was going to be quite easy to get the life it deserved. That girl inside the house wasn't Stephanie Edgley anymore. It was Valkyrie Cain.

After those years living her life for her, the reflection had grown. It had become Stephanie Edgley. In her opinion, she had the right to be Stephanie because she had spent more time with Valkyrie's family than Valkyrie herself. Stephanie loved her family, she didn't want them to die. And therefore she had to kill Valkyrie before she could become Darquesse again.

Her first plan had failed, because Valkyrie and Skulduggery knew her secret now. But they didn't know that she wasn't trapped in the mirror anymore so she had a second chance. She just needed some help.

And suddenly there appeared and excited sparkle in her eyes. She smiled. Yes, that person would probably help her.

She dialed a number when she saw a car heading toward the house. Her parents.

With the phone still in her hand she sneaked quickly around the house to hide between the trees in their garden.

* * *

Car lights lightened the kitchen for a moment and Valkyrie jumped back.

"My parents", she whispered. She looked at Skulduggery, struggling. She didn't want to kick him out but she didn't want her parents to see him either.

As if he had read her thoughts, he nodded, whispered "See you tomorrow" and headed towards the stairs to leave through her window to prevent meeting her parents.

When she heard her bedroom door close, she went to open the front door.

"Hi Steph", her mother greeted. "Would you be so nice and take your sister while I'm helping you dad with the groceries?"

"Of course", she said, smiling down at Alison when she took her back into the house where she waited for her parents. It wouldn't get any easier if she postponed this conversation. She could as well tell them today.

Later that day when they all sat in the kitchen having dinner, Valkyrie thought of a way to tell her parents the news as gentle as possible.

"Steph?", her mother asked.

"Yes?", Valkyrie asked questioningly. _Her mother didn't know what was on her mind, did she?_

"We wondered what you would like to do on your birthday since there are only four days left to prepare something."

"Oh, that. Yes. I wanted to tell you anyway." She paused, unsure how to go on. She took a deep breath. "I'd like to move to Uncle Gordon's mansion when I'm 18." There. It was out.

Silence. Her parents were both speechless and even Alison didn't made the slightest sound.

Her father recovered first. "Well, it's not like we hadn't seen this coming. You are a very independent and grown up young woman, but are you sure? I imagined you would be some years older before you'd move away."

"It's just- Well, I feel like this is something I need to do. And I won't be that far away anyway. I could still come and visit you and-"

Her mother interrupted her. "I understand, Steph. You want to stand on your own feet and I'm sure you'll manage this great. But would you promise me something?"

"Sure", Valkyrie responded, relieved that her parents stayed this calm. "What is it?"

Her mother smiled. "Don't hesitate to ask whenever you need help, for example preparing the house before you move there."

"That would be great!" Valkyrie smiled back.

"We could go there tomorrow when you are back from school, just to see what we'll have to do."

Valkyrie nodded. "Great!", she said happily. She really couldn't complain about her parents. They were simply awesome.

* * *

Since Skulduggery had left Haggard behind two hours had passed. As he sat down in his favorite armchair his thoughts drifted off to Valkyrie. He wondered if she was alright after what had happened today. Was she upset that she had to move away from her family? Certainly. But there was no other option as long as she didn't want to tell her parents the truth. He knew that it must have been a hard decision for her.

When he was about to slip into meditation, his phone rang. Valkyrie. _What could have happened?_ He wondered.

"Hey Valkyrie, what's up?"

"I have to go to school tomorrow, Skulduggery. To _school. _That's up", she moaned. If he had a face, he would be grinning now. He was happy that she was back to her old self again.

"It wouldn't be that bad if you had listened to whenever I told you to go to school", he returned.

"I _did_ listen. I just didn't go to school", she pointed out. He could hear from her voice that she was grinning now, too.

"Ah there it is again. Your problem towards persons of authority."

"Are we still talking about you?" she teased.

"Very funny", he said sarcastically.

"Sorry", she laughed. "I actually just wanted to tell you that I'm at Gordon's tomorrow with my mum. She wants to help me get the mansion ready."

"Sounds great. So your parents are okay with that?"

"Surprisingly, yes", she said with a yawn.

"I think you need some sleep before you go to school. Good night, Valkyrie."

"Goodnight."

He hung off. He felt much better knowing that Valkyrie was okay and happier than this afternoon. It made him happy, too. He wondered why.

_Because you like her_, said a voice in the back of his head.

* * *

Stephanie stood at the pier, waiting impatiently and checking her watch again. _He was too late_, she thought and pulled out her phone to call him.

"Where are you?" she asked angry. "You should have been here half an hour ago."

"I'm sorry I can't come myself. But I've send some else to pick you up. When I mentioned what you've asked me to do, this person volunteered to help you, doesn't even want to get paid."

Her mood brightened immediately. That sounded promising.

* * *

**I actually don't know who this mysterious person is yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to introduce someone new or use someone from the books, though I think I'm going to keep the new character on my mind for another story. Since I don't have a really good idea it will probably the person from the books that fits the best. Any idea who this will be? ;)**

**Anyway, please Review if you liked it :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: First, thanks again for the lovely reviews they keep me writing :)**

**To prevent that someone misunderstands this, when I say Stephanie I mean the reflection.**

**To Sebastian: Before you mentioned her I didn't even thought about China, but it's a very good idea though. I will try to write something about her later in this story, although I'm not sure what to do with her at the moment. Any ideas would be nice :)**

**Well, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it!**

**I do not own any of those characters and anything you recognize from the books.**

* * *

Chapter four

A black-haired girl stood at the pier, her back to the street, gaze on the ocean. It was very silent this night, the only noises coming from the ocean underneath.

Suddenly a loud noise broke the silence. A motorbike was coming closer, stopping next to the girl. The driver turned out to be a pretty young woman dressed in leather clothes.

"Hi, Steph", she smiled, obviously happy to see her best friend and little sister again, although it was actually just her reflection. She didn't mind that. Scratch that. She _appreciated_ that. They were about to kill Valkyrie because there was no other way to prevent her turning into Darquesse. But Stephanie, as for being a reflection, didn't possessed magic and therefore she couldn't become the feared world destroyer. Much better company than Valkyrie.

"Hi, Tanith!" Stephanie turned around and smiled back. "I should have already guessed that Sanguine was talking about you on the phone. Thank you for helping me."

"Oh, you don't have to. You know, I want to kill Darquesse, too. She's a monster; she's going to destroy the world without any exceptions. But Valkyrie isn't Darquesse yet so our chances are good, especially when we are going to work together."

"Yes and I've got something that'll improve our chances, too." Stephanie smiled devilishly. "But first we need a waterproof plan."

* * *

Valkyrie woke up early the next morning. As soon as she remembered what she had to do today, she moaned and pulled her blankets over her face. Yesterday, when she had called Skulduggery, she had been joking about how terrible it was to go to school. But now she was _really _afraid. Remembering going to school was simply something else then visiting the school by herself.

_What's wrong with you? _She scolded herself_. You've fought so many times not knowing if you will even survive and now you are nervous because you have to go to school?_

That was preposterous. Skulduggery would laugh about her. She stood up and walked to the bathroom.

* * *

School was okay although it had been boring. Therefore she was relieved when the bell rang and she hurried out of the school, seeing the Bentley already waiting in the parking lot.

"Hi", she said when she sat down on the passenger's seat.

"Hi." He turned his head towards her. "Did you have a nice day yet?" he teased.

She glared at him.

"It was nothing but boring. I can't imagine how people do this every day."

"And other people can't imagine what _you_ do every day. Speaking of that. I think we should check something later that day. When do you think you and your mother are finished at Gordon's?" He steered the Bentley to the street.

"I suppose she wants to be home for dinner so we will probably leave at six o'clock if not earlier."

"Sounds good. Our investigation won't take that long anyway."

After a while they stopped at Ghastly's shop. It seemed to be closed but Valkyrie and Skulduggery knew better and stepped in.

* * *

Ghastly expected them, an exasperated expression on his face.

"What happened, Ghastly?" Skulduggery asked concerned.

"I can't find the clothes I made for Valkyrie." He turned to her. "I was pretty sure that I laid them over there" he gestured towards a table standing close to the door of his workshop. "But – as you can see – there is nothing. I was looking for them the whole morning – I just can't imagine where else they could be." He went silent for a moment, scrutinizing the floor. It was embarrassing to him that he couldn't even remember where he laid down things. Then he looked apologetic at Valkyrie.

"I'm sorry", he began. "I'm making new ones for you, of course, but I'll need at least two more days."

"Don't worry. I'm sure they have to be somewhere", Valkyrie soothed him and he smiled at her.

* * *

When Ghastly was about to look for the missing clothes again, his gaze fell on Skulduggery. He still stood at the door, head tilted, and seemed to be absent-minded. Ghastly could normally read the expressions on his best friend's not-existing face very well, but now he wasn't sure. Skulduggery looked at Valkyrie, who stepped through the door to his workshop. Ghastly's gaze wandered back to Skulduggery who hadn't made the slightest movement yet; still absent-minded he looked at the door Valkyrie had passed a few moments ago.

Ghastly scrutinized his friend's skull thoroughly, trying to figure out what this weird behavior was about. Then Ghastly realized Skulduggery was daydreaming. Something he hadn't seen by him in a while. That was interesting.

_Skulduggery couldn't be - ?_

The workshop door opened and Valkyrie entered the room again.

"They're not there, Ghastly."

"Any idea what could have happened?" Skulduggery asked, back to his old self again.

"They were obviously stolen, but there is no evidence that someone broke in", Valkyrie pointed out. Then she hesitated to look at the front door more closely. "Not the slightest lead. The thief was either very good at breaking in a house or he found another way in." She looked at Skulduggery and he nodded. Then he turned to Ghastly. "Where is your spare key?"

Ghastly paled. _It wasn't that easy to break into his house, was it?_

"Under the left flower tub. But no one knows that I hide it there."

"It doesn't even have to be someone you know. It's not that difficult to find someone's spare key." He walked outside to find the key where it belonged. He picked it up with a gloved hand und put it into his pocket.

"Perhaps there are fingerprints on it. I'm going to let someone check it."

And without a good bye he headed towards the Bentley.

"I'll call you when your new clothes are finished", Ghastly promised. Valkyrie said him good bye and left the shop as well.

* * *

_Stephanie's POV_

Stephanie looked at her reflection in a window while Tanith ordered some take-away for them. The black clothes were fitting perfectly though that wasn't the reason they have stolen them for. If she wanted her plan to work she needed protection and from Valkyries memories she knew this clothes were working great.

"Do you think they already figured out who stole the clothes?" Stephanie asked anxiously. Sure, she was happy to have them, but if Valkyrie and Skulduggery knew she wasn't trapped in the mirror anymore, their plan would most likely fail.

"Nah, don't worry. We didn't left the slightest evidence behind", Tanith reassured her. "Anyone could have stolen them."

Tanith was right of course. She had to focus on their plan. Or lack thereof. Tanith seemed to be thinking the same.

"Are you sure you need nothing more than the moment of surprise and a little distraction? That sounds way too easy. I mean, we are going to kill a world destroyer", she sounded sceptical.

"Yes, I'm very sure." Stephanie paused, grabbing their take-away while Tanith paid. They left to eat somewhere else and Stephanie waited until they were out of earshot again.

"I have to show you something, because you probably wouldn't believe it if I just told you."

"Try me", Tanith demanded impatiently.

But Stephanie just smiled at her. "You'll see. I promise you will be convinced."

* * *

**Yes, I know, that was kinda boring. At least some parts of this. It took me that long writing because I just wanted to skip this part and write the next one, I'm really looking forward to writing this :D**

**Anyway, review :)**

**And please tell me if you have any ideas for China, I'd like to write something about her but I don't know how she fits into this story yet. Feel free to PM me if you like.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**I don't own the characters and anything you recognize from the books.**

* * *

Chapter five

Nearly three hours had passed since Valkyrie and her mother had arrived at Gordon's mansion. They had decided to begin with cleaning up the main rooms like kitchen, bath and bedroom, because that hadn't been done for what seemed to be ages. Therefore they were progressing very slowly and had just started with the bedroom when Valkyrie noticed her mother was looking at the watch nervously ever so often. It was already half past five.

Valkyrie, who knew that her mother was getting nervous because she left Alison alone with Desmond for so long, suddenly had an idea.

"I know you want to go home, Mum", Valkyrie began sympathetic.

Her mother struggled before responding. She obviously wanted to go, but she promised her daughter to help her here, too.

"Well, yes. But we should finish here first." She didn't seem to be happy about that, though.

"It's okay. I'll stay a little longer and take the bus home." Valkyrie hoped here mother would agree.

"Are you sure? I could at least pick you up when you're ready."

"You don't have to. The bus connection is quite good, you know." She actually didn't even know if there was a bus stop near the mansion. But her mother bought it.

"If you are sure-"

"I am." Valkyrie smiled at her. "Just go home and save Alison from her Dad", she joked.

Her mother laughed. "Okay. You're great, Steph, you know that?"

She just smiled and hugged her mother goodbye. When she was gone, Valkyrie called Skulduggery.

"Hey, Skul."

"Are you already home again?" he asked surprised. "Ready for some investigation?"

"No, I'm still at Gordon's. My mother left so I thought you could pick me up here instead."

"Sure. Are you finished there?"

"No, but it probably won't take that long anymore. Perhaps you can talk to Gordon until I'm ready. I couldn't see him today since my mother was around."

"Good idea, I haven't seen him in a while", Skulduggery agreed.

* * *

"Steph? Can I ask you something?" Her voice sounded unnaturally loud in the silent wood. She was following Stephanie now for about half an hour through the trees and Stephanie hadn't told her yet what this was about.

"Of course, Tanith. What is it?"

"Why do you want to wait so long?" Tanith asked impatiently.

"Because I don't want to risk that someone else gets involved. At the moment, there are too many people around her all day. At the school, at home, at Gordon's. But when she turns eighteen and moves to Gordon's it will be much easier to catch her alone. I don't want to fight her at home. I won't risk that she hurts my family."

They walked silently for another five minutes and then, before Tanith could act childish and ask "Are we there, yet?", Stephanie suddenly slowed down on the edge of a clearing. She leaded Tanith to an old tree, knelt down before it and swept the leaves on the ground away. Now Tanith was able to see the hole in the tree. Stephanie reached one hand out and grabbed something that was inside the tree.

When she turned around to show Tanith what she got, Tanith was speechless for a moment. When she recovered she asked "Is it really what I think it is?"

"Yes, Tanith. It's the scepter. And it's working."

Now Tanith was grinning. "I think our chances have just improved."

* * *

When Skulduggery arrived at Gordon's mansion he found the door already open. He stepped in and looked for Valkyrie. He found her in one of the bedrooms, standing on a chair and taking the curtains off. She didn't seem to notice he was watching her so he knocked on the door frame.

Valkyrie turned her head towards him; a smile appeared on her face when she saw him. "Hi", she said. "Gordon's already waiting for you since I told him you would come over."

"Ah, well, then I won't let him wait any longer. Just tell me when you're ready to go." And with that he headed towards Gordon's study.

Gordon floated next to his writing desk and looked sadly down at a book. He sighed, then he looked up and a bright smile replaced his sad expression when his gaze fell on Skulduggery.

"Why so upset, old friend?" Skulduggery asked.

"It's nothing, really." He paused, suddenly a grin on his face. It seemed like he had forgotten what he was thinking about before. "Scratch that. There actually _is _something."

"You aren't speaking about the book, are you?" Skulduggery nodded towards the book on the desk Gordon was looking at before he entered.

"Nah, I'm speaking of something much more interesting. Ghastly called me a few hours ago, you know."

Since he had a voice activated phone he was speaking with Ghastly quite often.

"And I assume you want to tell me why or you wouldn't have mentioned it."

Gordon smiled. "You are good."

Skulduggery sighed. "I'm a detective. So what's up? What was your nice little chat about?"

"You", Gordon said simply. His smile grew even wider.

Skulduggery tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"

"Yes, that's the question here. Why. Why didn't you tell us?" He sounded offended.

"Tell you what, Gordon?" he asked annoyed, but Gordon ignored him.

"You couldn't have kept it a secret anyway, you know", he continued. "I'm an author, I notice things and Ghastly is your best friend, he knows you too well."

"What are you talking about, Gordon? Just spill it out!" he demanded angrily.

"About your feelings for Valkyrie, of course." He sounded like it was something totally obvious.

If Skulduggery had skin, he would have paled now. He himself had just figured this out recently. How could they already know?

"I don't know what you are talking about", he replied without looking at him.

"And now you are lying", Gordon sighed. "You can't make me believe something else because I know I'm right. And Ghastly knows, too. We can tell by the way you look at her, talk about her. We've noticed this a few weeks ago the first time and watched you two more closely. It makes sense, in a way."

"It doesn't make _any_ sense, Gordon. I'm a damn skeleton; I shouldn't be feeling that way." He paused. "And Valkyrie most certainly doesn't feel that way about me, anyway", he added sadly.

Gordon reached out to pat his shoulder but stopped shortly before his hand could go through his friend.

"Don't be upset. You shouldn't give it up that easy."

_Did that meant what he thought it did? Gordon wasn't implying that there was a chance Valkyrie returned his feelings, was he? No way._

Skulduggery tilted his head and looked at him. "Gordon, be realistic: No nearly eighteen year old girl could love a skeleton."

"I believe _she _does." Gordon said simply.

"Don't be stupid. Therefore she would have to be very strange."

"Of course she's strange", Gordon replied proudly. "She's my favorite nice."

Gordon didn't make it easy for him. He made him feel hope although he knew this feeling wouldn't last. This case was hopeless.

Skulduggery sighed. "Look, Gordon, -" But Gordon interrupted him.

"No, Skulduggery. _You_ look. Just watch her more closely, look how she reacts around you."

_What if Gordon was right? _He was probably going to follow his advice and watch her more closely, just in case he had a point, but he wouldn't tell Gordon that. Now he was excited, his imaginary heart pounding faster_._ Gordon wouldn't tell him that when there was no hope, his friend wasn't that mean.

"Maybe", he just said. But from Gordon's knowing smile he could tell that Gordon knew he would take his advice.

Just when Gordon was about to say something else, they heard a knock on the door. The noise made them both jump – well, Gordon floated backwards – and shortly thereafter Valkyrie entered.

"Why are you so silent now?" she wondered. She tilted her head. "You weren't talking about me, were you?"

"No, of course not", Gordon reassured her, way too fast to be convincing.

"I don't want to interrupt but didn't you say there was some investigation to do today?" She turned to Skulduggery.

"Yes there is. We should go now."

"Don't forget what I told you", Gordon said.

"What did he tell you?" Valkyrie asked curious.

"Nothing" was the skeletons reply. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at him, but then decided not to ask and just turned around to leave.

Gordon chuckled and Skulduggery gave him the best glare he could before he followed Valkyrie to the Bentley.

* * *

"What is this new case about?" Valkyrie asked when they had driven in silence for a while.

"Which new case?" Skulduggery asked confused.

"We are going to do some investigation, right? So there must be a case", Valkyrie pointed out. Then she noticed where they actually were. "Wait- Are we driving to _Haggard_?"

"Yes. I want to talk to your cousin, Carol. Or, well, I actually want _you_ to talk to her."

"Why?", she wondered.

"When we talked to your reflection yesterday, it said it had spent the day with Carol and we could just ask her. So she really must have been there. And now I want to find out _why_ she has been there."

* * *

**Please Review :)**

******I still need an idea for China. It doesn't have to fit into this story, I'm thinking of writing another one some time. Though I'd like her to show up in this one. If you have any idea, please tell me!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews, they keep me writing! **

**Especially thanks to NarahSelson for the good idea, I'm going to write something like that, though not in this chapter, I had nearly finished it when I received your review :)**

**I won't be able to write and update for at least two weeks because I'll be on vacation in Italy, but as soon as I'm back I'll start writing again. **

**Anyway, here's the next chapter :)**

**I do not own any of those characters and anything you recognize from the books.**

* * *

Chapter six

Valkyrie hesitated for a moment at the frontdoor. She remembered the last time she had to visit them: Skulduggery had persuaded her to get the brooch which could be used as a key to a tunnel system under Gordon's mansion. This time it was, again, Skulduggery who wanted her to visit her family. She sighed before she reached out to ring the doorbell.

A few seconds later Beryl opened. _Damn._ She had hoped for Carol to open. Now she had to improvise.

"Hello, Stephanie", Beryl said obviously surprised.

"Hi, Beryl." Valkyrie tried a convincing smile while letting her necromancer's ring slid into her pocket. "Can I come in for a moment? I think I've lost my ring here yesterday."

"Sure." She stepped aside to let Valkyrie in and hesitated before she continued. "Did anything happen yesterday? Carol is acting weird. She spent all day in her bedroom, only showed up for the meals."

What did the reflection do to her? Suddenly Valkyrie remembered something Skulduggery told her five years ago: _It will be trying to avoid other people and long conversations… They will just think that you're acting weird. _Valkyrie was alarmed but tried her best to keep calm and don't show any reaction to Beryl.

"No, nothing happened. Maybe she just wants some time alone, don't worry about that. "

"Maybe you're right. Didn't you want to pick something up?"

Valkyrie nodded and headed towards Carols bedroom. Since Beryl mentioned that Carol was keeping distance she had a suspicion. But why would her reflection do something like that?

She knocked on the door.

"Yes?" came a voice from inside. Valkyrie entered. She saw Carol sitting on her bed, doing obviously nothing. When she looked at Valkyrie, she said: "Hello, Stephanie."

"Hi, Carol. Have you seen my ring? I think I lost him here yesterday."

She shook her head.

_How could she find out whether this was Carol or just her reflection? _Because that was what first came to her mind when Beryl mentioned she was being distant all day.

"Stephanie didn't wear a ring yesterday. You are Valkyrie, aren't you? I think you should go now."

"Where does that come from?" Valkyrie tried to keep her voice calm and don't sound hurt at this sudden aversion. She looked down at Carol scrutinizing.

"Stephanie told me to keep away from you", she replied and raised her head. Their eyes met for about a second and that was enough for Valkyrie to notice the lack of emotions in them, the lack of _life._

That had just confirmed her suspicion. The girl in front of her wasn't Carol. It was her reflection. Valkyrie had to admit that_ her_ reflection had been very clever, though. It knew Valkyrie would find out that this was just a reflection as soon as she looked at it so it told Carol's reflection to stay away from her. Too bad her reflection hadn't considered Skulduggery. The way he thought about every tiny detail and wanted to get as much information as possible was unique. Without him she probably wouldn't be here, she had to admit that he was simply the better detective. She wouldn't tell him that, though. His ego was huge enough.

Suddenly a new question built up in her mind. _What had her reflection done to Carol? _She grew angry.

"Where is Carol?" she asked dangerously quite.

"I'm Carol", it responded. Valkyrie stepped forward in its direction and glared at the reflection.

"No, you're not. You are just her reflection. I want to know where the real Carol is."

"Gone."

"What do you mean, _gone_?"

"Stephanie killed her. She turned her to dust."

* * *

_Carol was dead and my own reflection has killed her_. She couldn't believe it. She didn't _want_ to believe it. No one except her and Carol's reflection knew. Poor Crystal. And poor Beryl and Fergus. They didn't even know their sister and daughter was murdered and replaced. Someone had to tell them, but Valkyrie simply couldn't. She would have to tell them about magic and then her parents would find out about magic, too.

She had to go now; there was nothing she could do here. She had to tell Skulduggery and then they had to figure out what to do next.

What did she once say to Skulduggery?

_Fight now, mourn later. _Although this was no fight; it was something much more difficult. She had to act like this was Carol and everything was still alright. It was better for them to think Carol was still alive. For a moment Valkyrie imagined this reflection five years from now, perfectly adjusted to this life and no one was suspecting that it wasn't Carol they spend their lives with. Valkyrie wondered if the reflection would age when it stayed out of the mirror for a long time. Would it die at some point? She had to discuss this with Gordon some time.

She headed towards the door, but turned around to the reflection again before she left.

"Don't tell anyone who doesn't already know that I've been here. And don't tell anyone what our conversation was about."

Carol's reflection nodded and Valkyrie turned back to leave.

Luckily, she reached the door without encountering someone else.

* * *

When she left the house and closed the door behind her, she could feel the tears in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, without much success, and strolled towards the Bentley Skulduggery had parked down the street.

When she came closer she saw Skulduggery with his back to her and he held a mobile next to his skull where his ear should be. She wiped away the tears and straightened up. Skulduggery shouldn't see her like this, not again. He never cried. Well, Valkyrie didn't even know if he was able to but she guessed so. After all he could talk and laugh and whistle without the needed internal organs as well.

* * *

Skulduggery hung up and let the mobile slid into his pocket. He turned around to see Valkyrie coming closer so he got into the Bentley and started the engine.

When Valkyrie opened the passenger's door he started to speak.

"I gave Ghastly's key to a friend while you were at school this morning. He just called me; there are no fingerprints on it so it's going to be difficult to find out who stole the clothes. How was your chat with Carol? Could you find something out?"

When she didn't answer right away he turned his head towards her.

"Valkyrie?" Her head was dropped and she seemed to be looking down to her knees.

* * *

"I couldn't talk to Carol", she said finally and looked up to him. "My reflection has killed her" she added with a shaky voice. _Don't start crying. _She continued: "It made Carol call her own reflection and then killed her. Beryl already noticed that she is acting weird. I don't want to tell her the truth. I can't."

She felt a single tear running down her face. She couldn't help it. _Stupid girl. Stop crying. _She turned away to look out of the window. She realized they hadn't moved off yet.

* * *

Skulduggery had seen the tear before she turned away. He didn't like seeing her like that. Without thinking about what he did next, he reached out for her and cupped her cheek with one hand. He turned her face back to him before he gently wiped away the tear with a skeletal finger. Even through his gloves he could feel the warmth of her skin.

* * *

She was stunned for a moment when his gloved hand stroked her cheek. Her skin tingled where he touched her and the biggest part of her conscience was astonished about how the slightest touch could make her feel. The much smaller part of her conscience wondered if Skulduggery had ever touched her like this before. The answer was simple: no. She looked at him in surprise.

When he saw her expression he pulled away and muttered "Sorry" before he turned to look out of the window. The following silence was awkward and seemed to last for ever although Valkyrie knew only a few moments had passed.

Valkyrie wondered – not for the first time – if Skulduggery knew how she felt about him and if he felt the same about her. It wasn't possible that he could make her feel that way without feeling anything himself, was it? She glanced over to him and suddenly his body stiffened.

"Valkyrie", he said and sounded tense. His gaze was still on the street. Valkyrie knew something had happened though she couldn't name it.

"Yes?"

"I think we've got a situation." He pointed at someone down the street who came closer. The way this person moved was very familiar to her. When the person came closer she saw that it was a dark haired girl, dressed in black clothes, quite similar to her own.

"I think we don't need to find out who stole the clothes anymore", Skulduggery pointed out at the same moment Valkyrie recognized the girl.

To look at this girl was the same as to look in a mirror.

It was her reflection.

_No. That couldn't be happening. I have to be dreaming._

"Skulduggery? Why is it here?"

"I assume it wants to see how Carol's reflection is coming along." He shrugged.

"I didn't mean that."

"Oh. You want to know how it is possible that your reflection is here?" He tilted his head. After a moment he had to admit: "I'm sorry, I have not the slightest idea."

Valkyrie growled. She was angry. _Why did her reflection want to mess her life up so badly? And how did it release itself from the mirror?_

"What do you suggest we do?", Skulduggery asked her.

"I think we should kill it and don't put it back in the mirror. It has caused too much trouble."

* * *

Skulduggery was surprised. It was not because he didn't like the idea. Quite the reverse; it was very similar to his own idea. He wanted to kill the reflection since they discovered it wants to hurt Valkyrie. He was only surprised that it was Valkyrie to suggest this. He remembered that she did not even wanted Melancholia to die and she had nearly killed her.

"Are you sure?" he asked therefore and tilted his head towards her.

"Is there any other option?" she asked back. Then she seemed to realize something.

"Skulduggery? I don't think it's a good idea to let it visit Carol's reflection. We can at least arrest it and then we have time to decide what to do with it."

"Ah, yes. Point taken. Let's go then."

* * *

_Stephanie's /the reflection's POV_

Stephanie was going to look after Carol's reflection. She knew that this reflection was not like her, not yet. She had decided to help Carol's reflection so no one would get suspicious. In Tanith' opinion, it was too dangerous to meet anyone who knew Valkyrie. But to Stephanie this was just something she had to do. Tanith couldn't understand that; she had never been a reflection.

So Stephanie was walking down the street carelessly. When she finally noticed the familiar shape of the Bentley, it was too late. She was already too close. At least Skulduggery would have seen her by now.

_Damn it._ She saw them both jumping out of the car and running towards her. Why had she left the scepter with Tanith? She had nothing to defend herself with. Well, she could fight like Valkyrie and that would be a good defense if it wasn't Valkyrie and Skulduggery who made up to her. The only chance left was running. So she turned around to run from them in a last attempt to escape. But it was doomed to failure and she knew it.

It felt like she was running against a wall and she fell, her head aching badly where she had hit the wall of air. When she finally managed to get back on her feet, Valkyrie and the skeleton were only a few steps away. Stephanie closed her eyes in concentration, trying to think of a way to escape. The only way to delay her impending death was to distract them with talking.

Sometimes it was a good thing to know all of Valkyrie's little secrets.

* * *

The reflection had given up on running away. Instead, it turned around to face the detectives with a devilish smile on its lips which was immediately replaced by a way too innocent expression.

"Hello, Valkyrie. Nice to see you again", it said. Valkyrie responded nothing. "I wanted to ask you something since we last meet, you know." The reflection slowly stepped back, Valkyrie and Skulduggery following her step by step.

Skulduggery growled at the reflection. "Don't talk to her."

The reflection looked at him. "Is there someone over-protective? I just want to ask her a question." It turned back to Valkyrie. "What I wanted to say before I was so rudely interrupted: Have you told him yet?" It didn't wait for a response. "I guess not. Maybe I should do that for you –" Valkyrie was stunned and she paled. Her reflection wouldn't dare to do that, would it?

* * *

Stephanie was enjoying the shocked expression on her face. She didn't plan on telling him, but Valkyrie couldn't know that. Stephanie just wanted to distract them so she could escape. She was still stepping backwards, but this time no one followed. Valkyrie couldn't move and Skulduggery had tilted his head towards Valkyrie quizzically.

Perfect. Stephanie had reached a small, unlit alley by now and turned left. Shortly thereafter the darkness around her swallowed her, so no one would be able to see her making her way back to a place she could hide in.

Tanith had been right; it had been a bad idea to come here today. Now they had to work out another plan. Stephanie wasn't worried, though. There were still three days left to plan something. And neither of them knew about Tanith. They probably thought that Stephanie wouldn't try something soon. But Stephanie knew they would be looking for her. She had to be careful now.

* * *

As soon as she recovered Valkyrie ran into the alley, but had to stop for a moment so her eyes could adjust to the darkness. She looked at Skulduggery who had already made up to her and was reading the air.

"It's not here anymore, though it can't be far away." So they parted to search for the reflection, without any success. About ten minutes later Valkyries mobile rang. Her mother. _ Darn. _She had totally forgotten that she should be home by now.

"Steph? Are you still at Gordon's? It's quite late, shall I pick you up?"

"I'm sorry I forgot the time. I'm already on the way back home."

After she ended the call she looked for Skulduggery, who thought it was too late to find the reflection anyway, so they got into the Bentley and he dropped her off at home.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I'm already back to Germany now. A friend got sick at the second day and we had to bring her home and now we are probably going to stay here. Grr. I so wanted to see Verona… I was in such a bad mood that I didn't start on writing until yesterday.

**But finally, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it!**

**And to NarahSelson: I tried my best to fulfil your ideas, I hope I got it right!**

* * *

Chapter seven

Valkyrie was still awake. She stared at the ceiling, way too tensed to fall asleep and sensitive to every single tiny noise.

Her reflection was still out there somewhere. She shivered from the thought how easily the reflection could have killed her while she was sleeping yesterday. She wondered why it had let this opportunity slip away.

In Skulduggery's opinion the only explanation for that was that the reflection had a plan. Either it was waiting for something to happen before or its plan involved another person. That didn't make her feel better. Another person who wanted to kill her? "I'm only pointing out every possibility", Skulduggery had reassured her after he'd seen the exasperate expression on her face. "It doesn't have to be like that. Maybe it has given up now since we know it's no longer trapped in the mirror", he had tried to cheer her up. She had smiled at him slightly at this miserable attempt.

Valkyrie winced when she heard something tapping on her window. Her reflection had finally come to kill her. She slid the necromancer ring on before she got up and slowly moved to the window. Then again, she thought, it wouldn't make any sense if her reflection tapped on the window, making sure she was awake and waiting for her to let her in. Not very realistic, at a second thought.

She looked at her window more closely, making out a familiar profile with a hat on top. It was Skulduggery. She sighed in relief and went to open the window.

"Finally", he said when he climbed in. "I started thinking you would let me stand out there all night."

"Sorry" she muttered. "I first thought you were my reflection."

Then your reflection wouldn't be very clever", he pointed out.

"I realized that, too. I opened the window, didn't I? Come to speak of that; what are you doing here?"

"We couldn't really talk about what happened today." _Did he really want to talk about that? It had been awkward enough without talking about it._ "Did Carol's reflection tell you any details that could be useful?" _Oh. He was talking about _that_._

"Not really. Just that my reflection told her to keep away from me. Well, and that my reflection killed Carol."

"Anything else?"

Valkyrie closed her eyes pondering. She let the conversation with Carol's reflection go through her mind again.

"It said something like: _she turned her to dust._ But I can't imagine that. The only artefact I know that is able to do so is the sceptre and the sceptre of our dimension doesn't work anymore."

"Mmh… We don't know that for sure. There may be a possibility to repair it and we just don't know."

"Please, stop it. You're miserable in cheering someone up. You only make it worse. How am I ever going to sleep while I think of my reflection – who wants to kill me by the way – is running around there somewhere, with a sceptre and perhaps an ally who wants my death, too?"

"Sorry", he said apologetic. He really meant it.

"That doesn't help me getting some sleep", she grumbled.

"I was going to look after you while you are asleep anyway. If it helps, I can stay here." His velvet voice was soothing.

"That would be great", Valkyrie responded tired. When Skulduggery sat down at her desk and started humming slightly, she had already fallen asleep.

* * *

When Valkyrie woke up, the first thing she noticed was a whisper. She panicked for a moment and turned around to face who- or whatever it was. At the same moment she remembered what happened yesterday, her gaze fell on Skulduggery. He hung his mobile up. That was when he noticed she was awake.

"Good timing", he said. "I called Ghastly to tell him who broke into his shop, but he didn't listen. He wanted us to come to the Sanctuary and hung up immediately. I had no time to explain what happened so I just have to go there alone now. I'll tell you later." And with that he tapped the brim of his hat and turned to the window to leave.

"Skulduggery?"

"Yes?" He turned back to her, questioningly.

"Thank you", she said sincerely. She didn't have to elaborate on that.

"You're welcome" was his response before he opened the window and disappeared.

* * *

"Good morning, Steph", greeted her mother, who was feeding Alison, when Valkyrie entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mum." Valkyrie started preparing her breakfast.

"Um, there is something I have to tell you."

"Oh? What is it?" Valkyrie wondered.

"I've got a doctor's appointment with Alice this afternoon. I've totally forgotten about that", she apologized. "Normally it's Des forgetting stuff, I don't know how that could have happened. I'm sorry, Steph. I can drop you off at Gordon's if you like. Depending on how long it will take I may be able to pick you up afterwards as well."

"Oh." Valkyrie tried not to sound too disappointed. "Don't worry" she tried a smile, "I can take the bus again. And there isn't that much to do anyway."

"Good to hear that. I thought it would be nice to celebrate your birthday at Gordon's since it's a much bigger house than ours." _Oh no. A birthday party, most likely with all of her family. _Gordon would be very happy to see them again. Valkyrie, well, let's say she wasn't looking forward to it.

"Yes, that would be a good idea" she replied and tried a convincing smile.

Later, when she was on her way to school, she thought about her birthday and what her mother had planned. She couldn't know that it was a very bad idea to invite all her relatives, including Carol's reflection. It would be a quite eerie party.

* * *

The new apartment China had set the library in was way too large.

Well, it had the same size like her original library that had burned down. How she hated Eliza for doing that. To look at all this empty space hurt. China remembered her old library, the books she possessed back then. She had tried to replace them, but hadn't been very successful. Some of her old books have been priceless, simply because they have been the last copy left. Now they had no chance to reveal their secrets anymore. So much knowledge and there was nothing of it left but ashes.

China was so angry about Eliza; she couldn't put it into words. She was so desperate right now, she just wanted to scream.

It wasn't enough that Eliza had destroyed her library, her apartment, simply everything she possessed. No. She had also told Skulduggery that China helped murdering his wife and child. She wasn't proud of that, but she always justified that by telling herself that had been her past. It happened before she became neutral.

She had been coming along with Skulduggery very well, especially over the last years. Their relationship had become much better, he even started to trust her again. Some years ago Valkyrie had mentioned that China had become a part of their "group". Of course, China had told her she didn't wanted friends. After all she was still China Sorrows. For hundreds of years she hadn't had a single friend; she didn't need them.

But now, since Valkyrie and Skulduggery weren't visiting her anymore, she felt very lonely. She had liked Valkyrie and enjoyed chatting with her. And Skulduggery… Well, she had really liked him. Still did. But he never realized that. Skulduggery was an enigma to her; China wasn't used to the fact someone was able to resist her charms. Or maybe he was just good at hiding things?

There was another feeling beside the loneliness, something she couldn't remember if she had ever felt it before. It was something about Valkyrie. She didn't feel abandoned because Valkyrie chose to leave with Skulduggery when Eliza told them her secret. She was too used to the fact that Valkyrie followed him everywhere like a puppy. She had done this ever since they met the first time.

No, China was jealous. She wouldn't admit that to anyone, though, but she was jealous of Valkyrie and her good relationship to Skulduggery. China knew that Skulduggery had somewhat of a crush on Valkyrie, although she wasn't able to understand that. Valkyrie was just a stupid little girl and besides Skulduggery was four hundred years older than her. It could never work and he knew that; he had most likely realized that by now. After all, it was just a crush and he would get over it.

A knock on her door interrupted her train of thoughts and she rose from the chair, heading towards the door to open it. Gr. She needed someone doing that for her again.

* * *

Stephanie was very nervous when she reached the door to Chinas new library. When she mentioned to ask China for help yesterday it felt like a really good idea. Even if China didn't want to help them, she probably wouldn't tell anyone. Skulduggery wouldn't listen to her anyway. So why shouldn't she try it?

But now, standing in front of her library, she hesitated. She wasn't sure anymore. Maybe China doesn't want to help or even decides to kill them. Fighting against China was very dangerous, especially when they were at her place.

Stephanie looked over to Tanith, who was hiding down the hallway. She nodded encouragingly.

She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. When China finally opened, she seemed surprised for a moment.

"Valkyrie?" she asked. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I hoped you could help us. And I would prefer you'd call me Stephanie."

Her beautiful blue eyes were scrutinizing her for a moment before she nodded. "I see. You said _us_. Who's with you?"

"Don't freak out, okay?" Stephanie got nervous again, then she gestured Tanith to come over. China followed her gaze and frowned.

"Tanith? This is getting more and more interesting." China stepped back to let them in.

* * *

China led them over to her desk where they sat down on the opposite of her.

"Let me get this straight. You are Valkyries reflection." It was no question, but the girl in front of her nodded reluctantly. China turned towards the other woman. "And I assume you are still remnant-possessed because otherwise I would have heard something about your rescue." Tanith smiled at her slightly, her lips turning black for a second.

China shivered but kept a straight face. Turning back to the girl again, she added: "Am I right when I say Valkyrie doesn't know that you are here?"

Stephanie nodded, a smile appearing on her face. That conversation got even more interesting. What did Valkyries reflection and the remnant-possessed sword lady want from her? And even more important: what could they offer? Because China did nothing if there was no advantage for her.

She leaned back in her chair. "So what is it you need?"

"Well, like I said before. We need your help. We want to-" Stephanie hesitated. "We want to stop Darquesse", she said finally.

"If I may ask that: how are you planning to do that?"

"We want to kill her", Tanith said when Stephanie hesitated again.

"You know who she is?" China couldn't hide her surprise. How could they know? China had heard nothing about Darquesse and she had heard a lot.

"Yes. Believe it or not, but it's Valkyrie."

Oh. That was unexpected. But it would be an explanation for her lack of information. Maybe Valkyrie hadn't told it anyone but she couldn't hide it from her reflection. China wondered if Skulduggery knew. Most likely not. If he knew she was going to destroy the world, he would stop her. It would be the right thing to do.

Now it was up to her reflection to save the world. But even with the sword lady as her ally their chances won't be very high. They needed help. But it wasn't her help they needed. The solution for their problem was very easy.

"Well, it's very simple, really", China began. "You just have to tell Skulduggery. He-"

"He already knows", Stephanie interrupted her.

"He does?" China was confused. Why was she still alive then?

Stephanie seemed to be reading her mind. "Yes. And he believes they will find a way to stop Valkyrie from turning into Darquesse. Or, well, he tells himself that."

Weird. The Skulduggery she knew wouldn't hesitate and shoot her right away if he finds out. Something must have changed between them. _No. _But what Stephanie said next just confirmed her suspicion.

"But the truth is, that he would sacrifice the world to safe her." [**A/N:** Ah, such a nice quote from the books. I normally hate the reflection but that was epic :D ]

China Sorrows was speechless for a moment. She couldn't believe it. Skulduggery Pleasant hadn't just a crush on her. He was deeply in love with Valkyrie Cain and China never had a chance. Why did this stupid little girl get everything China wanted? She didn't deserve that; and besides, China had just found out that she was destined to destroy the world. And she would destroy Skulduggery, too. How could he not see that? And that was the moment China realized what she had to do.

With helping Stephanie, she would save him. Maybe then he would trust her again. To China it seemed like everything made sense at this moment.

* * *

"Ah." China nodded, apparently understanding their problem. Stephanie was relieved she had assessed China right. She didn't seem to mind that wanting Darquesse' death meant murdering Valkyrie. The beautiful woman in front of them started to speak after a few moments of consideration.

"And now you need my help because you have no idea how to kill Valkyrie while Skulduggery is around", she assumed.

"Actually", Tanith began, a trace of anger in her voice, "we _had _a plan. But _someone_" she glared at Stephanie, "had been very clever and showed up in front of Valkyrie and Skulduggery. Of all people."

Stephanie shifted uncomfortable in her chair. Tanith continued.

"Although they knew what Stephanie was up to they didn't expect anything since they thought she was still in the mirror. It would have been _so_ easy to break in the mansion while she sleeps there alone and just point the sceptre at her. But now…"

Stephanie, who was looking at China the whole time, didn't miss how her eyes widened for a moment when Tanith mentioned the sceptre.

* * *

So there was another sceptre and it was working. China needed to examine this one. She had never had a chance to study a sceptre that was actually working. If she helped them, there would probably a chance for her to get it somehow.

"I see. What is it you need?"

* * *

**Yes, I know, no Valduggery in here. It just took so long introducing China and this seemed to be a good ending for a chapter. I think in the next one there will be some :)**

**I just realized that I have to write something about her birthday party. And then I realized I have to think about presents. What could Skulduggery possibly get for her? If you have any ideas, please tell me. I'm really bad at presents :D**

**The party won't be in the next chapter, though, but maybe Skulduggery getting a present. If I have an idea for that.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: As always I loved to read you reviews, thank you for the support!**

**To**** Missy ****haven **(and anyone else who wonders why Tanith wants Darquesse' death)**:** I haven't read The Maleficent Seven yet, I only read the blurb and since Tanith wants to steal the God-Killers I figured she wanted to kill Darquesse. I was thinking the remnant liked to be free again pretty much and didn't want to risk that Darquesse destroyed the world. That sounded reasonable to me when I started this story, so I wrote it that way. I know by now that is OOC, but after all, it's called fan_fiction_, so it doesn't have to fit the books completely :)

**Here is the next chapter, enjoy!**

**Unfortunately, I don't own any of these characters. **

* * *

Chapter eight

Although she hadn't told him, Skulduggery knew that Valkyrie had been afraid to go to school again after several years of letting her reflection do that for her. And he could understand her fears.

But when he drove the Bentley into the Sanctuary's parking lot, he wished they could change places. To sit in a class next to strangers who believe they know who you are – compared to facing Ghastly, who most likely had another chat with Gordon after their conversation at his study yesterday – sounded very appealing.

He sighed. He couldn't postpone this anymore. He had spent a quite long time this morning with visiting his friend he gave the key to, in order to pick it up. He had received a call from Ghastly half an hour ago, who wanted to know why he wasn't already at the Sanctuary. It had been nearly 12 o'clock by then.

He stepped out of the Bentley and shut the door, standing in front of his car for a moment. _At least Valkyrie wasn't with him_, he thought. Don't get him wrong – he really enjoyed spending time with her. It was just that he was glad Valkyrie wasn't present at this particular conversation. Skulduggery could bet that Ghastly would be dropping hints throughout their conversation and Skulduggery, who didn't even know yet if he wanted to tell Valkyrie how he felt at all, did know that he doesn't want her to find it out _that_ way.

Skulduggery straightened up before he set off to see the Elders.

* * *

"You have to be seeing things. I haven't noticed anything", Erskine said just then.

"Because you don't really look at them. It's so obvious!" Ghastly was frustrated about how oblivious his friend was at times.

"That's not convincing, you know that?"

Ghastly shrugged. "I told them to come to the Sanctuary. Actually, they should already be here." He looked at his watch, then back to Erskine. "I bet you will notice now."

"Maybe", Erskine grinned. Sometimes he just liked to frustrate his friend. "What did you tell them anyway? I mean, why are they coming here? There is no case or something like that, so no reason for them to get here after all."

"Oh, that. It was quite easy actually. Skulduggery called me this morning to tell me something and I told him to get here."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Ghastly and Erskine jumped at that noise as if they were two little boys that were caught by doing something forbidden.

* * *

When the door opened and the skeleton detective faced the two Elders, they both wore a way too innocent expression. Skulduggery tried to dissemble that he knew very well they had been talking about him. It wasn't very difficult since he had no face which could show his expressions.

"Grand Mage Ravel, Elder Bespoke", he said mockingly and bowed lightly in their direction.

It didn't have the wished effect. Instead of being annoyed, they seemed to be confused.

"Where is Valkyrie, Skul?" Erskine asked.

Before he could respond something, Ghastly added: "Did anything happen - ?" But Skulduggery interrupted him, amusement in his voice.

"You know, the next time you should simply listen when someone calls you."

When he didn't continue right away, Ghastly raised an eyebrow at him. "So?"

"I called to tell you who broke into your shop – " He was interrupted by Erskine.

"What has that to do with Valkyrie? Is she arresting the thief or what?"

"Would the two of you just listen? I'm only going to explain it once." They nodded and he started to tell them everything about the reflection. When he mentioned it was the reflection that broke into Ghastly's shop he remembered the key and handed it over to him. Then he continued, telling them about Carol and about their suspicion Valkyrie's reflection might have repaired the sceptre somehow.

When he ended the Elders looked at him waiting obviously for him to say something else. After a few moments they realized he wouldn't, so Erskine repeated his question.

"That sounds really bad but I think you missed something. Where is Valkyrie?"

Now Skulduggery was the one to be confused. "At school", he said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

That was when they realized what it meant that Valkyrie couldn't use the reflection anymore.

"Oh. It's a bit weird to imagine Val goes to school." Erskine thought about it, then he started to laugh. "Poor Val."

Ghastly ignored him. He turned to Skulduggery, who had just received a message, and changed the subject. "What are you going to do now? Have you any ideas how to end this?"

Skulduggery looked up from his mobile, smiling to himself. "I'm sorry?"

"That was Valkyrie, wasn't it?" Ghastly nodded towards his mobile. He shot Erskine a look that was saying: _Haven't I told you?_

"Um, yes." He tilted his head in a way that showed he was grinning. "Her parents are going to invite the whole family to her birthday. She is, um, not really happy about this."

Both of them started to laugh at that. They knew Val didn't like spending time with one half of this family, she had shown this more than once in the last years.

"Poor Val", Erskine said again. "When is her birthday? It has to be in a few days, hasn't it?"

"In two days", Skulduggery corrected quickly. A knowing smile grew over Erskine's face.

"Have you already got her something? What is it?" he asked curious.

_Yes_, Skulduggery already had a present for her. He wouldn't tell them what it was, though.

"That's none of your business."

"Oh?" Erskine asked, now grinning. That was the moment Skulduggery's mobile rang.

* * *

"Yes?" he answered it. His voice softened when he continued. "Oh, really? I'll come around later, then… No, I'm still at the Sanctuary… I'm sorry, none of them came up with a solution yet … I'll tell you if we figure anything out …. Okay, bye."

Erskine and Ghastly were exchanging meaningful glances when Skulduggery slid the mobile back in his pocket.

"When are you planning to tell her?" Ghastly asked.

"When are you going to focus on our problem?" Skulduggery asked back without bothering to answer.

"Well, you and Valkyrie are the detectives. I think you will handle that as well as always. We are just the Elders, giving the orders, that kind of stuff", he joked.

"You are really helping me, you know", Skulduggery said sarcastically.

"Sorry. I'm trying to think of something." Suddenly his mood brightened. "Changing the subject: What are we going to do for Val's birthday?"

Skulduggery shook his head in disbelief. _Which idiots had elected him as an Elder?_, he wondered._ Oh, right. He had been one of them. In this case, it hadn't been idiots at all._

* * *

Valkyrie's mum dropped her off at Gordon's after lunch. She waved Alison goodbye, who was seated in the back and looked through the window until the mansion was out of sight.

After she had hung up the curtains her mother had laundered for her yesterday, she realized there wasn't anything to do left. Valkyrie decided to visit her dead uncle because she hadn't really talked to him in a while.

When she entered the study, she found it empty.

* * *

_Echo Gordon's POV_

"Gordon?" First, she got no answer. After a few moments of silence, her uncle appeared in front of her, arms crossed and sulking.

"Have you finally remembered that I'm here?"

Valkyrie frowned. "I've been here yesterday, remember?"

"Yes, you came in, interrupted the conversation Skulduggery and I had and dragged him away. That doesn't count."

"Sorry. I was just so busy and –" Gordon couldn't help it, he started grinning.

"I was just joking."

"That wasn't very funny", she said, angry that he had been able to trick her. She wanted to punch him for that, but she just hit air. Gordon smiled at her self-satisfied. It was obviously very amusing to him.

"It _was _funny. So… how did my favourite niece spent the last days? Anything interesting happening? What was your investigation yesterday about?"

So Valkyrie started to explain everything that had happened the last two days. When she finally finished, Gordon was speechless for a moment.

"Well… that is really bad. I'm sorry I can't help you with that, but I'm sure as long as Skulduggery is around nothing will happen to you. I honestly didn't expect something like that. I thought you were telling me about your birthday preparations, things like that. I mean, the eighteenth birthday is something special."

"Ah, yes, there is the other problem." She seemed to be more upset about this than about the reflection-thing. "My mother wants to celebrate my birthday here and will probably invite the whole family… Oh", her mood brightened a little when she remembered something else. "And I'm going to move in here at my birthday. You can't complain about too less company then anymore."

"Nah, I don't know if I want to have my niece around all day", he teased her.

"You'll get over it. I won't be here all the time anyway. Detective work, adventures, stuff like that, you know."

Gordon wanted to say something, but stopped when he heard a noise downstairs. "I think there is someone downstairs", he whispered. "If I was flesh and blood, I would go down there myself but since I'm not even able to touch something…" He looked at his niece meaningfully.

He didn't know what kind of reaction he had expected from her. Fear? Anger? Shock? But no way had he expected what happened next. Her mood brightened up immediately.

"I was already wondering why he's so late", she said then. Now he was confused.

* * *

"Didn't I tell you earlier that Skulduggery would come around?" She asked when she saw his confused expression. Obviously not.

"You didn't… Although I should have guessed that", he was grinning at her now.

"Oh?"

But Gordon didn't elaborate on that. Instead, he looked over her shoulder and smiled at someone behind her.

She turned around and smiled at the skeleton that was standing in the door frame.

"Hi, Skul. What did the Elders say?"

"Nothing constructive at all. Did you tell Gordon?"

"He said nothing constructive, either."

"Hey!" Gordon exclaimed and floated towards them so they could both see him. "I'm still here, you know", he said sulking.

"Yeah, I know. " He glared at her. Then she added: "I'll go and see if there is anything to drink in the kitchen." And with that she left Gordon and Skulduggery alone.

* * *

Gordon was the first one to say something. "I think I'm more excited about her birthday than she is", he laughed. "I am so happy to see the whole family again…But I think that's only because I don't have to spend the whole afternoon with them." He went silent for a moment, then he looked up to Skulduggery and asked: "Do you have a present for her already?"

"Um, yes", he shifted uncomfortably.

Gordon raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you going to tell me what it is?"

"No, I'm not", he replied. "I know you would tell Ghastly right away."

"I won't, I promise."

"I said 'no' Gordon."

"Please?"

Skulduggery sighed when he suddenly had a very good idea.

"As soon as you tell me what your present is", he said gleeful.

"You are so funny, Detective", Gordon growled.

"I already know that", he responded, visibly amusement in his voice.

Gordon changed the subject, wanting to rub the invisible smile from his friend's skeletal face. "So… When are you finally going to tell her?"

He hit a nerve; Skulduggery's smile vanished.

"I'm not going to tell you that."

"I get from this that you _are _planning to tell her, yes?" Now it was his turn to grin.

Skulduggery sighed but he stayed silent. He had already said too much.

That was when an obviously confused, yet still beautiful, Valkyrie appeared in the door frame.

* * *

"I would have bet there was something to drink in the kitchen. I have to tell mum that she has to buy something for the party." She frowned. "Or maybe I don't so the guests will be leaving very soon", she added hopefully.

"I bet they won't." Gordon threw in doubtfully. "It's a strange family we have there."

"You don't have to cheer me up, Gordon."

"It's your eighteenth birthday, Valkyrie. You should be looking forward to it."

"But I hate birthday parties. I bet no one would even notice if I didn't show up."

"Nah, I believe they would. And you won't get any presents if you don't show up."

"That might be worth it."

"You think so?" Skulduggery asked. "I can just keep mine if you like."

_Skulduggery actually had a birthday present for her?_ Suddenly she _was_ looking forward to her birthday.

"No, I was just joking. Of course I'm going to show up on my own birthday."

* * *

For the second time this day, Skulduggery shook his head in disbelief.

"You are impossible sometimes."

"I know", she said grinning.

_She _really_ was impossible sometimes, _he thought. But yet he still loved her. _He would tell her_, he decided. _Soon._

* * *

**I'm not all happy with the ending of this chapter. I wanted to change it, but I just didn't have another idea and since it's already late (well, late in Germany) and I wanted to update today I left it that way.**

**Anyway, let me know what you think about it:)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Unfortunately, that's a rather short one. Since we had to break up the Camping trip a week ago, we are starting a new one today, only for a few days, but I wanted to update before we leave, so here is what I've already got. **

**Therefore the next one will be much longer and much more interesting. There will finally be some action and some more Valduggery :)**

**A second thing: While writing this I realized I fail miserably at describing clothes in general, especially dresses. Just imagine Val's dress is not as plain as described :D**

**I still don't own anything.**

* * *

Chapter nine

"Steph?" called her mother from downstairs. "We have to go now or the first guests will already be waiting in front of the door when we arrive."

"Just a minute!" Valkyrie called back.

While Melissa Edgley was wondering why it took her daughter that long to get changed, Valkyrie stood in front of her mirror, still deciding whether she should get changed or not.

She had no problem about _which_ dress she should choose - she only possessed one dress, because normally she didn't wear them – but a problem to decide whether she should wear a dress at all. They were just so… unpractical.

She wanted to wear the clothes she felt most comfortable with: the ones Ghastly made for her. But she knew she couldn't wear them on her birthday so she had tried the dress on. It was a black and strapless one with a flared skirt ending below her knees.

She had already curled her hair and used some mascara before changing into the dress. Admittedly, the girl in the mirror in front of her looked pretty, but it just wasn't her. She felt so vulnerable without her protection clothes. The shoes made it even worse. Sure, they were not near as high as high heels, but they would be restricting her if it came to a fight. Or if she wanted to run away, because fighting in that dress was a very bad idea.

She sighed. She put her working clothes in the bag she had already packed so she could overnight at Gordon's mansion – well, her mansion since she turned eighteen today. As soon as her family had left, she would get changed.

"Steph?" her mother called again.

Valkyrie took the bag and headed downstairs.

"You look great", her mother said when Valkyrie finally arrived in the hall.

"Thanks." Valkyrie smiled and tried to sound a little excited. Or at least not upset. It seemed to be working because her mother smiled back.

"Des and Alice are already in the car. We should hurry up before you are too late at your own party."

"Mum, you have invited them for 3 pm. It's nearly 2 now, we have plenty of time to get there."

"Well, yes, but before the guests arrive I want to check if everything is prepared."

"We've been there yesterday, remember? When we left everything was alright, so there's nothing to worry about", Valkyrie reassured her mother. It was funny that her mother was all excited about her birthday party while Valkyrie would have liked to skip that part to the time all of her family members had left, because there actually _was_ something she was looking forward to.

* * *

On the ride to Gordon's she replayed the conversation she had with Skulduggery on the phone yesterday in her mind.

"_Do you know which time your guests will probably have left?"_

"_In the evening, I guess. Are you coming around?"_

"_I was planning so, yes. I thought you'd like to get your present the actual day." If she hadn't known it better, Valkyrie would have thought he sounded insecure. But that was very unlikely. Someone with an ego as huge as Skulduggery's wasn't insecure._

"_I'd love to", she replied, but tried to hide from him how excited she was about it. "What about … hm, maybe eight o'clock? The last guests will have most certainly left long time before that."_

"_Hm… That's a bit late, though. I wanted to give you the present before – ", he suddenly broke off._

"_Before what, Skulduggery?"_

_No response._

"_Is there something you're not telling me?"_

_He sighed. "I'm not allowed to tell you, but I think you should know anyway." He paused. "Ghastly and Erskine want to come later that evening, too. Now I've ruined the surprise, though."_

"_Nah, I can act all surprised. So what was it you were saying before?"_

"_Um, yes." There it was again. Now he definitely sounded insecure. "I thought I could get there earlier, give you the present before they show up…" he trailed off. Weird. But she was really curious about the present so she didn't mind. _

"_Sure… I could call you when everyone's gone."_

"_That would be great."_

"_Okay, then."_

"_See you tomorrow."_

"Steph? We are there", her father interrupted her thoughts. She blinked. He was right.

* * *

After Valkyrie had brought her bag into the bedroom, she visited Gordon to tell him they had arrived and he would have to hide now. He started to pout and Valkyrie had to laugh.

"I'll try to pick you up later so you can see them", she promised. "Oh, and Ghastly and Erskine will be here later. I can pick you up then as well."

She had hoped to cheer him up, but instead he just sighed.

"Skulduggery told you, didn't he?"

"No."

"Liar."

"I don't know what you mean", she said, but couldn't hide a smile when she left the study and closed the door behind her. When she headed downstairs to join her mother and Alison in the kitchen, she heard the door bell ring.

Valkyrie straightened up. "Just a few hours", she murmured to herself. "You can do that."

So she went to the door instead to let the first guests in.

* * *

"I think we shouldn't postpone this anymore, either. Today is as good as any other day", Stephanie agreed with Tanith. They were in Chinas apartment this time.

However, China wasn't happy about their decision. She didn't like it to run into a fight without being prepared appropriate, without having a secured method. Actually, she didn't even like fighting. If their plan worked, she wouldn't have to fight. Are at least Stephanie had told her so, but China was quite sure she wouldn't be able to prevent a fight. And anyway, which plan did ever work?

"Have you thought this through carefully?" she asked in resignation. Stephanie nodded. "Then tell me, when do you plan to get there?"

"Ah, yes. That's something we have to organize before. Therefore we are actually here." She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to China.

China read the note and nodded. "That's for someone on the party, right?"

"Yes. We just have to give it to her some way."

"I think that can be arranged. I just have to make a call."

* * *

**Told you it would be short and - in my opinion - not really interesting. But this way I can skip the boring part of the party. No one wants to read that anyway, I guess :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing to SebastianCastellen. I actually planned to skip her birthday party, but since you requested it, I decided to write something about it. This part got a lot longer than I expected; when I started I had no idea where this was going and well, that's where it went :)**

**As well thank you to crazy. about. books.123, I finally used your idea in this chapter, although I changed it a little. **

**I hope you like it anyway :)**

**I originally planned on making this the last chapter, but it's already quite long, so I decided to split this.**

**I'm sorry I haven't updated for so long, I ran out of ideas. But finally, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Chapter ten

One hour later even the latest guest had arrived. Valkyrie was already tired about talking to everyone, every time giving the same answers for the same questions.

"_How does it feel to be eighteen now?" _

"_Did you enjoy your birthday so far?" _

"_What did you get for your birthday?"_

And so on. Valkyrie doubted that they were actually interested in her answers, they just wanted to make conversation.

After answering these questions for what seemed to be the hundredth time, Valkyrie decided to visit Uncle Gordon and let him have a look at the whole family. Sneaking away from the party she had already reached the stairs when she heard an unpleasant voice calling her name. Beryl.

Valkyrie had managed to avoid her and her family up to now, but Beryl was really persistent and had finally found her. With a fake smile on her face, Valkyrie turned around to her aunt.

"Hi, Beryl."

"Hello, Stephanie. Happy birthday", she said with a smile that was not near as convincing as Valkyries. "Here's our present." She handed her an envelope. "You know, from me, Fergus, Carol and Crystal. It was my idea, though." Beryl seemed to be really proud of herself and her brilliant birthday present.

Valkyrie opened the envelope and pulled out a pink card. It took all of her self-control to keep the smile on her face when she realized what it was: a manicure voucher.

"Um, thank you?" , she tried, but it sounded like a question. _Manicure? _That was the last thing she needed. Nail polish wouldn't even last longer than a day and fake nails… The thought alone made her shiver.

Beryl didn't notice the missing enthusiasm. Or if she noticed, she simply ignored it.

"Don't mention it. I noticed the state your nails are in a while ago." Valkyrie looked down at her finger nails and Beryl did the same. While Valkyrie was wondering what could probably be wrong with them, Beryl made a face.

"I've never met a girl before with so short and dull nails and your hands…" she said theatrically and paused. When she continued, her voice was accusing. "Why don't you ever do something about that?"

"Because this way it's simply more practical", Valkyrie explained as if she was speaking to a little child. "And besides, I don't have time for things like this."

"More practical?" Beryl shook her head sadly. "Nails don't have to be practical, dear. They should be pretty."

"Well, that's your opinion", said Valkyrie and wanted to turn towards the stairs, but Beryl wasn't finished yet.

"You can at least try it. You have finished school, haven't you? Then you've got plenty of time." Suddenly she grinned mischievous. "Speaking of that, Stephanie: What are you going to do after school now? You already have plans, haven't you?"

Beryl knew too well that Valkyrie didn't have any plans for her time after school – well, none that she knew of. She just liked to tease her.

But Valkyrie, who didn't want to continue this conversation any longer, just told her the truth. Or at least a part of it.

With a big smile on her face she said: "I'm going to become a detective."

Her aunt was speechless for a moment. "You- You are joking, aren't you?"

"Nope." Valkyrie really enjoyed the shocked expression on her face.

"That must be the bad influence" she muttered, more to herself than to Valkyrie. "I thought- Well, Melissa can bring her to reason. I'm going to talk to her." And without another word to her niece, Beryl turned around and went off to find Melissa.

As soon as Beryl had turned her back to her, Valkyrie sneaked away from the party and visited her uncle in his study.

* * *

"Finally", her uncle said as soon as she entered the study. "What took you so long?"

"Beryl", was all Valkyrie responded.

"Oh?" Then Gordon noticed the pink card she still had in her hand. "That's from her, isn't it?"

"Yes." Valkyrie sighed, then she held the card in front of his face so he could read it. He started to laugh immediately.

"That's not funny."

"It is." Gordon was highly amused. "How did you get rid of her?"

"That was easy." Her mood brightened up right away. "I just told her I want to become a detective when she asked if I had future plans. She muttered something about _bad influence_ and is now most likely telling mum that she has to bring me back to senses."

"Beryl does know that you are eighteen now, doesn't she?"

"To be honest, I don't know. You want to see the whole family now?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to warn you. They probably can't be drunk by now but they are already acting like it."

Gordon didn't seem to be impressed, so she added: "When I left the party, they already started dancing and I've heard some of them singing." She shivered.

"They are Edgleys, what else did you expect?"

Instead of responding something, Valkyrie took the Echo stone and left the study, followed by a very excited Gordon.

* * *

Valkyrie stopped on the last step and Gordon looked around the corner in the living room to see their relatives talking and dancing. He pointed at some of them and told Valkyrie funny stories about their relatives.

They were both laughing when Gordon had finished a story, in the same moment a cousin of Valkyrie headed towards the kitchen. He would pass the stairs in about five seconds and if he turned a little to the right, he would see them.

"Gordon", she hissed to get his attention. When he looked at her, she pointed upstairs and Gordon nodded. They had just reached the study when her cousin passed the stairs. Gladly, he didn't look up.

"That was a close call", Valkyrie commented.

"Yes, but it was worth it", Gordon replied happily.

Valkyrie shook her head. "Only because you wouldn't be the one who had to explain everything."

"You may have a point there", Gordon admitted. "Thank you, Val. I really enjoyed seeing them again."

"You're welcome. I have to go back to the party although I doubt someone is missing me there. See you later, okay?"

* * *

_Admittedly, _Valkyrie thought, _the party was okay._ No one was really drunk or misbehaving and the strangest thing was that she saw Carol's reflection talking to no, the strange thing was that the reflection was talking to him. It should be avoiding conversations and other people. Weird.

But aside from this, it was really okay.

Scratch that. Valkyrie was chatting with a cousin when her gaze fell on Beryl who was discussing with an obviously annoyed Melissa. She tried to hear what they were saying and made a step towards them, but she didn't need to, because that was the moment Beryl raised her voice.

"_How can you approve that? She will ruin her future if you don't bring her back to senses! You're her mother, it's your duty to save her from making such a big mistake!"_

Valkyrie and her cousin were staring at them, and Valkyrie realized they were not the only ones. Several other people turned around to witness the spectacle.

"Who are you to tell me what my duty is?" Melissa snapped. "And who says it's a mistake? I think the idea is as good as any other. And besides, she is eighteen, Beryl! It's her decision, not the decision of anyone else."

"_You can't honestly approve that! She has just finished school; she should go to college or something_."

By now every other conversation had stopped. The only thing you could hear was the music, which wasn't loud enough to cover their voices.

Before Valkyries mum could respond something, Desmond laid and arm on her shoulder, talking quietly to her. She nodded in agreement and looked around. When her gaze finally fell on her daughter, she shot her an apologetic look.

Fergus tried the same with Beryl but he wasn't near as successful as his brother. Eventually, he managed to drag her out of the room, everybody was watching them. Crystal grabbed Carols hand and dragged her out of the room, too. Shortly thereafter the front door was shut quite loud.

Her mother made up to Valkyrie.

"I'm sorry, dear. I didn't want to ruin your party."

"Don't be", Valkyrie reassured her. "Beryl had started this. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't have avoided her the whole afternoon. I've tried", she joked and her mother grinned at her.

Shortly after this incident, the first guests came to say goodbye and the party was over quite soon. Valkyrie didn't complain about that.

* * *

Valkyrie hugged her parents and Alice goodbye and shut the door behind her when they drove off. Finally, she was alone. She went upstairs to her bedroom and pulled her mobile from the bag she had put in here earlier. Before she dialled a number, she checked the time: 7:10 p.m.

"Valkyrie?"

"Hi, Skul. The party is already over, my parents just left. You want to come around now?"

"Sure. See you later, then."

"See you later."

Because she didn't know what else she could do, Valkyrie started cleaning up the living room. She collected the bottles, glasses and dishes that were standing around and brought them into the kitchen, where she tried to put as many dishes in the dishwasher as possible.

She was in the living room again, this time sweeping the floor, when she heard a knock on the nearby window. With a smile on her face she laid the broom aside and opened the window to let Skulduggery in.

"You know", she began, "that you just could have used the door?" She pointed at the back door that was maybe three meters away from the window.

"Doors are for people without imagination", he responded and Valkyrie grinned, remembering the first time he had said this: it was the first time he had visited her at her parents house, back when she was twelve. That was when he gave her the spell for calling a reflection. She shivered. Her reflection was still out there somewhere.

Skulduggery, who noticed how her mood had shifted, asked concerned: "Is everything alright?"

"Yes. I was just thinking of my reflection."

"Ah, yes. I don't believe it's going to start something soon. That would be suicide. It doesn't even have magic. If it decided to fight against us, it would lose hopelessly."

"But if-", she started, but she was cut short when Skulduggery laid a finger on her lips.

"Don't worry so much. It would just ruin this day. Speaking of that" he added and reached into his pocket. "Happy Birthday, Valkyrie", he said with his velvet voice and produced a little wrapped box from his pocket he handed over to her.

Valkyrie unwrapped it and her heart pounded faster when her gaze fell on a small, velvet box that looked suspiciously like… No, Skulduggery wouldn't buy jewellery for her or something like that. It just wouldn't be like him. She remembered the stick he got her for Christmas once. _Very unlikely_.

But she was taught better when she opened the box and found a delicate silver bracelet in there. In the middle of the chain was a little heart between two chain links, on its right half was a small sapphire. The bracelet looked very old fashioned, but that just made it more beautiful.

"It's so beautiful", she whispered. "Thank you, Skulduggery." She hugged him tightly, not sure what else she should say.

"I was hoping you'd like it, though I wasn't sure. You know, It's a family heirloom and therefore it's a little old fashioned -", he started to explain, but Valkyrie interrupted him.

"I love it", she reassured him and pulled back. "Would you do me a favour?" , she asked and handed him the bracelet.

"Of course." He took it and fastened it around her wrist; her skin tingled where he brushed against her hand. Looking up to him, she noticed how close they were. Their eyes met and Valkyrie could tell that he was thinking the same. He didn't pull away, though. That was a good sign, wasn't it?

Valkyrie, who felt suddenly emboldened, made a step forwards and leaned in closer. She noticed that he hadn't moved yet and his gloved hand was still on her wrist. When she laid her hands on his shoulders, he stayed as still as before. But when her lips had nearly reached his teeth, he suddenly pulled away. Valkyrie blushed, afraid she had misunderstood him.

* * *

As soon as Skulduggery realized what she was going to do, thousand thoughts came to his mind.

Was it possible that Gordon and Ghastly were right? Did she return his feelings towards her? He must be dreaming. That couldn't possibly be happening. But when she laid her hands on his shoulders, it just felt so _real_.

He pulled away a little and Valkyrie looked hurt at first. As soon as she realized what he was up to, this expression vanished and she grabbed his hand before he could tap on the tattoos on his collar bone. Skulduggery tilted his head in confusion.

"Don't", she whispered, closed her eyes and leaned in to close the gap between them. Her lips felt amazing on his teeth. Sure, it was somehow weird, but it still was amazing. He rested his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to intensify the kiss, her arms finding their way around his neck.

The moment was shattered when the doorbell rang.

"Damn that Bespoke", Skulduggery murmured.

* * *

**Let me know what you think so far :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: First, I'm SO sorry I haven't updated for ages. I started to work two weeks ago and since then I had barely time to write. And I finally bought LSODM (I just couldn't wait for the German release) so I was a little busy. **

**Anyway, back to the story. Thank you so much to everyone who's reading and reviewing; it means a lot to me you guys like this story :)**

**P.S.: I started this one with the last line of the last chapter, because it had been quite an abrupt ending. Just so you don't think he says that twice :D**

Chapter eleven

"Damn that Bespoke", Skulduggery murmured.

After a few moments of silence, the doorbell rang again. Valkyrie sighed.

"I should probably go and answer the door", she said reluctantly. She wanted to talk to Skulduggery first, otherwise it would become a quite awkward evening. But she didn't even know what exactly she wanted to say and besides there wasn't enough time to say anything at all, so she took the first step towards the door.

A skeletal hand on her shoulder stopped her before she could make another step.

"I'll go and answer the door", he said determined and muttered something else Valkyrie couldn't understand.

She shrugged. "I don't mind."

While Skulduggery left the living room, Valkyrie sat down on the sofa, a broad smile appearing on her face when she thought about what had just happened. Her lips were still tingling.

So many times she had tried to imagine what it would be like. Sure, she had figured it would feel somehow strange and weird to kiss bones and teeth, although she hadn't really cared about that. And she didn't need to care about that; to kiss Skulduggery wasn't strange at all. It was amazing.

xXxXx

Still thinking about what he could probably do to Ghastly and Erskine for showing up that ill-timed, Skulduggery opened the door.

"Why did you –" he started but went silent as soon as his gaze fell on the black-haired woman in front of him. She smiled as if they were the best friends. _She should be terrified instead_, Skulduggery thought. Maybe she was but was just good at hiding it.

"Hello, Skulduggery."

"China." He spilled out her name, his voice suddenly very low. "How dare you show up here?"

"It's Valkyrie's birthday and I was around so I thought it would be a nice idea to drop by and congratulate her", she said innocently.

"Sure", he said sarcastically. "I'll tell her you've been here. Good bye, China." Skulduggery started to close the door, but she simply placed a foot between the door and the frame.

"I didn't plan to leave right away."

"We are finished, China. Just go and leave us alone, before I decide to do something else."

"Oh, that's a pity now, it really is", she began, still that innocent expression on her face.

Skulduggery frowned. "What is?" At the same moment, he scolded himself. _Why did he even give a thought to what she said? She obviously just wanted to waste his time._

"Well", she said, dragging the word dramatically. "You might see, even if I leave, you and Valkyrie won't be alone."

He froze. "What do you mean by that?"

And then he realized that China was only there to distract him and Valkyrie may be in danger_. Had he heard any suspicious noises from inside the house?_ He had to admit that he hadn't really paid much attention to it. He cursed and turned around to see if Valkyrie was alright, but before he could enter the living room, something hit his back and he fell over_. Damn. How could he have forgotten about China? He was such a fool._

xXxXxXx

In the living room, Valkyrie started to wonder why Skulduggery hadn't come back by now when she heard something hitting the floor. _What could that probably have been?_ She stood up, wanting to see what had caused that noise, but suddenly she heard glass shatter right beneath her.

She turned around, thinking about what she could use as a weapon to defend herself from whom- or whatever there was. There wasn't anything like a weapon – well, except for her magic - so Valkyrie flicked her fingers, summoning a fireball in her hand.

A single person, completely dressed in black, stood behind the now shattered window. The only thing Valkyrie could make out right away was that the person was a woman. It was very hard to recognize someone when you could only see her through a broken glass. Besides, it had started to get dark, therefore her face was hidden, but Valkyrie had the strange feeling she knew the person. They had met before.

As soon as the woman started to speak, Valkyrie knew who she was. They hadn't just met once before. They had been best friends.

"Hey! Valkyrie, how are you doing?" Tanith asked.

"Hello, Tanith", was all she could respond at that moment.

"You know, I would really like to chat with you, just the way we always did. As sisters. But I have a mission. I'm sorry, Val."

Before she could wonder what that mission was, Tanith drew her sword and jumped forwards. Suddenly she was very close and Valkyrie felt useless having just a fireball to defend. Nonetheless she threw the fireball, hoping it was a surprise to Tanith. It wasn't.

She simply ducked her head, the fireball flying over her and through the broken window in the garden. Useless.

"Really, Val? That's all you've got?" Tanith said mockingly and wielded her sword at her. Valkyrie let herself fall to the ground, not a second to late, before the blade could cut her head off. She wasn't completely back to her feet when Tanith started the next attack.

_I can help, you know._ Said a voice in her head.

_I don't need _your_ help._ She knew that she needed help, but she didn't need Darquesse. She didn't want to need her.

"You don't need help?" Tanith asked. _Has she spoken out loud? _"I wouldn't say that now. There's someone else coming, too, you know."

_Someone else?_ Most likely Sanguine. She had to do something, anything. She collected the shadows around her and threw them at Tanith' wrist to loosen her grip on the sword. The shadows missed their aim, but when they hit Tanith' shoulder she stumbled backwards, just to tighten her grip on the sword and wield it into Valkyries direction again.

She tried to dodge it, but the sword had hit her arm. Almost immediately she could feel the warm blood on her skin, the stain growing further and covering her whole forearm soon.

"Skulduggery!" she yelled, hoping he would rescue her in the last moment like he always did when another person entered the room through the broken window. Her reflection.

_Where was Skulduggery?_

xXxXxXx

**Sorry for this bad ending. Originally I planned on making this the last chapter and a quite long one but I felt like I had to update at least something, so that's all I've got so far.**

**Hope you enjoyed it :) **

**Please review!**

Suddenly he heard Valkyrie calling his name.

China's going to die. Sorry, China. You just don't fit into my happy end. And besides, I believe I'll be really enjoying killing you ;)


End file.
